System for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distribution sources distributed over an area

Abstract

A system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy is provided. The system comprises a geographically distributed network comprising a plurality of nodes, each node comprising a water source, a renewable energy source comprising a wind turbine string of a plurality of wind turbines and a solar power string, and a nodal substation in electrical communication with the renewable energy source. The nodal substation comprises at least one electrolyzer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, the at least one electrolyzer configured to convert water from the water source to hydrogen or hydrogen compounds with electricity from the renewable energy source, and a compressor to compress the hydrogen or hydrogen compounds from the at least one electrolyzer to a pipeline fluidly connecting each node. The nodal substation is positioned at a distance from the renewable energy source such that the efficiency of energy transfer to the load exceeds that of conventional high voltage transmission.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY CLAIMS This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 287,841, filed December 9, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to power generation and transmission, and more specifically to a scalable geographically distributed power transmission system. [Background technology]

[0003] Prior to electricity transmission, various systems were used to transmit electricity over long distances, for example, 20km to 50km, the main ones being pneumatic (pressurized air) and hydraulic (pressurized fluid) transmission.

[0004] Pneumatic transmission was used in urban electricity transmission systems in Paris and several other European cities in the early 20th century. 19th century cities used hydraulic transmission using high pressure water pipes to deliver electricity to factory motors. For example, London's system delivered 5.2 MW at 55 bar over a 290 km network of pipes carrying water. These systems were eventually replaced by cheaper and more versatile electrical systems, and by the end of the 19th century city planners and financiers realized the added benefits, economies, and process of establishing electricity transmission systems that could connect cities over 300 km apart.

[0005] There were two obstacles to early electricity use and widespread transmission of electricity. First, devices requiring different voltages required specialized generators with their own separate power lines. Street lights, electric motors in factories, power sources for trams, and lighting in homes are some of the examples of diverse devices requiring separate voltages. Second, the generators had to be relatively close to the load (up to a kilometer for low-voltage device connections) due to high electrical losses at low voltages. It was known that higher voltages allowed for longer distance transmission, so if the voltages could be converted to a single universal power line voltage, both problems could be efficiently solved.

[0006] High voltage transmission was of interest to early researchers working on the problem of transmitting high power over long distances. Basic electrical principles dictated that the same amount of power could be transferred in a cable or conductor by doubling the voltage, and therefore halving the current. It was also known that, due to Joule's law, power losses due to heat caused by the resistance of a conductor are proportional to the square of the current flowing, regardless of voltage, so by doubling the voltage, the same cable could transmit the same amount of power over four times the distance.

[0007] The idea of ​​investing in a central generating station and a network that delivers centrally generated energy to distributed electricity consumers who pay a regular fee for the service was a familiar business model for investors. It was the same as the lucrative gas light business, or the hydraulic and pneumatic electricity transmission systems of the past. The only difference was that the commodity delivered was not gas (molecules) through a "pipeline", but electricity (electrons) through "conductors / cables / overhead lines", which at the time became a more flexible solution to deliver energy. Over time, the method of providing bulk energy to end users shifted from gas (molecules) delivered through a network of distribution pipelines to a combination of both gas (molecules) delivered through a network of distribution pipelines and electricity (electrons) delivered through a network of distribution cables and overhead lines. However, the energy source was still the early energy reservoirs of gas, coal, and / or oil (molecules) extracted from the earth's crust.

[0008] Modern centralized power plants can be fueled by large reserves of energy sourced from the earth's crust that have been created over millions of years. Fossil fuels (stored energy) are mined, burned, and converted from a chemical energy state to thermal energy as superheated steam, then to mechanical energy, which then drives an alternator (generator) that converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy.

[0009] Advances in renewable energy generation and the considerable cost reductions in electricity generation from wind turbines and solar power modules can reduce dependency on fossil fuel hydrocarbons. However, relying solely on electrons may not be able to meet global energy demands because electricity (electrons), i.e., the flow of electrons, cannot be stored; rather, electrons must be used instantly or converted into some other form of stored energy. Furthermore, the power that wind and solar generate is variable, and the loads they serve tend to be variable as well (the energy generated often does not correlate with the energy required by the consumer). For this reason, large amounts of stored energy are needed to meet the needs of energy consumers 24 / 7. For small amounts of energy storage, electrical energy can be converted into chemical energy stored in batteries, but this may not be practical for large-scale (gigawatt) level power transmission and storage requirements.

[0010] Electricity generated from renewable energy sources, e.g., wind turbines and / or solar power generating cells / skids, may need to be converted to high / extra-high voltage electricity for long distance transmission. However, there can be significant energy losses in transformers when converting from DC to AC, or direct current or low voltage to high / extra-high voltage, and back to a usable voltage suitable for the load.

[0011] Electricity from renewable energy generation can also be converted into hydrogen for transport, for example, electrolyzers on offshore wind turbines have been used to convert electricity generated by the wind turbines into hydrogen, however this arrangement may not be efficient for large scale (gigawatt scale) power transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0012] The present disclosure provides a geographically distributed nodal network of renewable energy generation to capture renewable energy and convert it into hydrogen energy storage. Distributed energy sources of wind, solar, and hydro can be converted into hydrogen at a scale typical of traditional oil and gas bulk energy sources (gigawatt energy scale) in centralized processing plants. However, the problem with generating large amounts of renewable energy at a scale similar to traditional oil and gas bulk energy generation and transmitting / distributing this power as electricity over a vast network of electrical assets (e.g. overhead lines, cables, transformers, and switchgear) is that the electricity needs to be converted to extra-high voltage so that it can be transmitted to a centralized plant that can convert the electrical energy into hydrogen or hydrogen compounds.

[0013] In one aspect, the disclosure describes a system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distribution sources distributed over an area. The system comprises a geographically distributed network comprising a plurality of nodes, each node comprising a water source, a renewable energy source comprising a wind turbine string of a plurality of wind turbines and a solar power string of a plurality of solar power skids, and a nodal substation in electrical communication with the renewable energy source. The nodal substation comprises at least one electrolyzer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, the at least one electrolyzer configured to convert water from the water source to hydrogen (H2) or hydrogen compounds with electricity from the renewable energy source, and a compressor to compress the H2 or hydrogen compounds from the at least one electrolyzer to a pipeline fluidly connecting each node. The nodal substation is positioned at a distance from the renewable energy source, the distance being: Energy efficiency H2伝送 >Energy efficiency 高電圧送電 where the energy efficiency H2伝送is the energy efficiency of transmitting energy from a renewable energy source to a load through a node-type substation as H2 or hydrogen compounds, where 高電圧送電 is the energy efficiency of transmitting energy from a renewable energy source to a load via high voltage transmission. The load is in fluid communication with a pipeline for receiving H2 or hydrogen compounds from a plurality of nodes.

[0014] In one embodiment, each nodal renewable energy source defines a perimeter and a nodal substation is defined in the perimeter.

[0015] In one embodiment, the renewable energy source at each node comprises a plurality of wind turbine strings and a plurality of solar power strings in electrical communication.

[0016] In one embodiment, the area is at least 500 km 2 It is.

[0017] In one embodiment, each node collects renewable sources at distributed voltage levels from wind turbines and solar power strings, with the nodes being positioned within 50 km of the wind turbines and solar power strings.

[0018] In one embodiment, the renewable energy source is in electrical communication with the load, and the node comprises at least one step-up power transformer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source and the load, the at least one transformer configured to increase a voltage of electricity transmitted from the renewable energy source to the load.

[0019] In one embodiment, the node is positioned at least 50 km away from the load.

[0020] In one embodiment, the system is islanded.

[0021] In one embodiment, each string is rated to carry the maximum current carrying capacity at the medium voltage (MV), high voltage (HV), alternating current (AC) rating of the switchgear in the string, preferably each string has a current carrying capacity of at least 1,250 A at 66 kV.

[0022] In one embodiment, the proportion of each renewable energy source is configured to provide the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE), where LCOE is: {(Construction cost excluding interest*Capital recovery factor+Fixed O&M cost) / (8760*Capital capacity utilization factor)}+(Fuel cost*Heat rate)+Variable O&M cost It is.

[0023] In one embodiment, each node is configured to generate maximum energy based on the current carrying capacity limitations of each node's switchgear and transformers, preferably the generated energy may be collected at medium and / or high voltage, more preferably the generated energy is between 1.2GW and 1.3GW.

[0024] In one embodiment, the renewable energy sources are positioned to maximize energy production for each node's geographic area.

[0025] In one embodiment, a solar power string is a solar power station with a maximum number of solar power skids limited by the current carrying capacity of the switchgear of the solar power string at medium and / or high voltage.

[0026] In one embodiment, each solar power generating string is defined within a perimeter of a wind turbine string.

[0027] In one embodiment, a wind turbine string comprises a maximum number of wind turbines limited by the current carrying capacity of the switchgear of the wind turbine string at medium and / or high voltage.

[0028] In one embodiment, each wind turbine is positioned to minimise tip vortex interference between adjacent wind turbines, preferably each wind turbine is positioned at least 800m apart.

[0029] In one embodiment, each wind turbine is positioned from adjacent wind turbines to minimize wake interference.

[0030] In one embodiment, the pipeline is a high pressure hydrogen pipeline.

[0031] In one embodiment, the load is configured to use hydrogen, and preferably the load is at least one of an ammonia, methanol, or methane processing plant.

[0032] In one embodiment, the system comprises a controller configured to selectively place each electrolyzer in electrical communication with a renewable energy source within a current carrying capacity threshold of a switchgear at medium or high voltage, wherein the at least one electrolyzer comprises a first electrolyzer and a second electrolyzer electrically coupled together by a switchgear having a threshold representative of a rating of the switchgear, and the controller is configured to electrically disconnect the first electrolyzer from the second electrolyzer when the threshold is exceeded.

[0033] In one embodiment, the system comprises a controller configured to increase pressure in the pipeline when energy generated by the renewable energy source is greater than energy consumed by the load.

[0034] In one embodiment, the controller is configured to cause the compressor to compress H2 or hydrogen compounds into the pipeline at a rate that is lower than the rate at which the H2 or hydrogen compounds are consumed by the load.

[0035] In one embodiment, the controller is configured to reduce the demand for H2, or hydrogen compounds, by the load when pressure in the pipeline reaches a minimum threshold, which may be less than about 50 bar.

[0036] In one embodiment, the controller is configured to cause the compressor to compress H2 or hydrogen compounds into the pipeline at a rate that is lower than the rate at which the H2 or hydrogen compounds are consumed by the load.

[0037] In one embodiment, the controller is configured to convert more than 50% of the energy generated by the renewable energy source into H, or hydrogen compounds, by at least one electrolyzer, for delivery to the load.

[0038] In one embodiment, the system comprises a concentrated solar power plant (CSP) string including a plurality of concentrated solar power plant generators.

[0039] In one embodiment the system comprises a wave and / or tidal generator string comprising a plurality of wave and / or tidal generators.

[0040] In one embodiment, the system includes a geothermal power string including a plurality of geothermal generators.

[0041] In one embodiment, the string size is limited by the current carrying capacity of the switchgear at medium or high voltages.

[0042] In one embodiment, each node is in electrical communication with extremely high voltage (EHV) or high voltage transmission lines, power cables, power transformers, and switchgear rated for their maximum current carrying capacity to transmit electricity to loads.

[0043] In one embodiment, gigawatt-scale energy is at least 6 GW.

[0044] Embodiments may include combinations of the above features.

[0045] In another aspect, the disclosure describes a system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distribution sources distributed over an area. The system comprises a geographically distributed network comprising multiple nodes, each node comprising a water source, a renewable energy source, and a nodal substation in electrical communication with the renewable energy source. The nodal substation comprises at least one electrolyzer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, the at least one electrolyzer configured to convert water from the water source to hydrogen (H2) or hydrogen compounds with electricity from the renewable energy source, and a compressor to compress the H2 or hydrogen compounds from the at least one electrolyzer to a pipeline fluidly connecting each node. The nodal substation is positioned at a distance from the renewable energy source, the distance being: Energy efficiency H2伝送 >Energy efficiency 高電圧送電 where the energy efficiency is H2伝送 is the energy efficiency of transmitting energy from a renewable energy source to a load through a node-type substation as H2 or hydrogen compounds, where 高電圧送電 is the energy efficiency of transmitting energy from a renewable energy source to a load via high voltage transmission. The load is in fluid communication with a pipeline for receiving H2 or hydrogen compounds from a plurality of nodes.

[0046] Embodiments may include combinations of the above features.

[0047] Further details of these and other aspects of the subject matter of the present application will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings included below.

[0048] Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0049] [Figure 1] 1 shows schematic diagrams of two exemplary systems for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple renewable distribution sources. [Diagram 2] 1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from a coal source. [Diagram 3] 1 shows a schematic overview of an exemplary system for distributed hydrogen production including a node in electrical and fluid communication with a renewable fuel processing plant, the node comprising a wind turbine string, a solar power generation string, and a nodal substation. [Figure 4] 1 shows a schematic overview of an exemplary system for centralized hydrogen production that includes a variable renewable power generation source that is only in electrical communication with a renewable fuel processing plant. [Diagram 5] 1 shows a schematic overview of an exemplary system including three distributed hydrogen production exemplary nodes in electrical and fluid communication with a renewable fuel processing plant, where electrical energy is converted to hydrogen and / or hydrogen compounds at each node. [Figure 6] 1 shows a schematic overview of an exemplary system including three exemplary distributed variable renewable energy generation nodes in electrical communication with a centralized electrolytic hydrogen production plant. Electrical energy is converted to hydrogen and / or hydrogen compounds in a renewable fuel processing plant. [Figure 7A] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary wind turbine string and associated switchgear. [Figure 7B] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary wind turbine string and associated switchgear. [Figure 7C] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary solar power string and associated switchgear. [Figure 8]Figure 8A shows a schematic diagram of the electrical connections of an exemplary node including exemplary connections of a wind turbine string, a solar power string, an electrolyzer, and a load with open bus section breaker(s) and bus coupler breaker(s), and Figure 8B shows a central overhead plan view of an exemplary node distributed over a geographic area. [Figure 9] 8B shows a schematic diagram of the node of FIG. 8A with the bus section breaker(s) closed and the bus coupler breaker(s) open. [Figure 10] 8B shows a schematic diagram of the node of FIG. 8A with the bus section breaker open and the bus coupler breaker closed. [Figure 11] Figure 11a shows a schematic diagram of an example node of Figure 3 or Figure 5. Figure 11b shows an overhead plan view of an example geographic distribution of wind turbine strings and solar power strings of the example node of Figure 11a. [Figure 12] 11b shows an overhead plan view of an exemplary node according to FIG. 11b, including geographically distributed wind turbine strings and solar power skid strings connected to respective hydrogen nodes, which are then connected by pipelines and overhead power lines to loads shown as ammonia and desalination plants. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 illustrates an overhead plan view of an exemplary node including its solar power string, comprising four solar power plants positioned in a generally rectangular shape with a nodal substation positioned centrally within the solar array. [Figure 14] 1 illustrates an overhead plan view of exemplary nodes distributed over a geographic area. [Figure 15] 15 shows a schematic diagram of the equipment constituting the exemplary node of FIG. 14. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 illustrates an overhead plan view of an exemplary node including solar power generation strings with four solar power plants positioned in a generally rectangular shape with a nodal substation centrally positioned within the solar array of the solar power plants. Each string may include 1 to n solar array clusters. [Figure 17]FIG. 1 illustrates an overhead plan view of an exemplary node including a solar power generating string with four solar power plants positioned in a generally rectangular shape with nodal substations positioned on opposite side edges of the solar array. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 illustrates an overhead plan view of an exemplary node including a solar power generating string with four solar power plants positioned in a generally rectangular shape with nodal substations positioned on opposite side edges of the solar array. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 illustrates an overhead plan view of an exemplary node including a solar power generation string with four solar power plants positioned in a generally rectangular shape with nodal substations positioned around each corner of the solar array. [Figure 20] FIG. 1 illustrates an overhead plan view of an exemplary node including a solar power generation string with four solar power plants positioned in line with a nodal substation positioned at each opposing corner of each solar array. [Figure 21] 1 illustrates a system schematic for a controller system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distributed sources. [Figure 22] FIG. 22 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the exemplary system of FIG. 21. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0050] This disclosure presents a system for generating and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distributed sources, which includes a network of geographically distributed nodes that function to capture energy from wind and solar sources and convert that energy into hydrogen for use in energy storage and efficient energy transmission, as compared to traditional means of transmitting energy as electricity using high or extra-high voltage lines.

[0051] The system can provide scalable renewable generated energy over large geographically distributed areas where the generated variable renewable energy is converted within the nodes and then transmitted and distributed as electricity (electrons) and / or molecules (hydrogen or hydrogen compounds) to serve specific end-use demands.

[0052] In one aspect, the present disclosure presents a system for generating and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distribution sources. The system includes a geographically distributed network comprising a plurality of nodes, each of which may comprise a water source, a renewable energy source, the renewable energy source comprising a wind turbine string of a plurality of wind turbines and a solar power string of a plurality of solar power skids, and a nodal substation in electrical communication with the renewable energy source. The nodal substation may comprise at least one electrolyzer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, the at least one electrolyzer configured to convert water from the water source to hydrogen (H2) or hydrogen compounds with electricity from the renewable energy source, and a compressor to compress H2 from the at least one electrolyzer to a pipeline fluidly connecting each of the nodes. The nodal substation is positioned at a distance from the renewable energy source, the distance being: Energy efficiency H2伝送 >Energy efficiency 高電圧送電 where the energy efficiency is H2伝送 is the energy efficiency of transmitting energy from a renewable energy source to a load through a node-type substation as H2, where the energy efficiency 高電圧送電 is an energy efficiency in transmitting energy from a renewable energy source to a load via high voltage transmission, the load being in fluid communication with a pipeline for receiving H2 from a plurality of nodes.

[0053] Although terms such as "maximize," "minimize," and "optimize" may be used in this disclosure, it is to be understood that such terms may be used to refer to improvements, adjustments, and refinements that are not strictly limited to a maximum, minimum, or optimum.

[0054] The terms "connected" or "coupled" can include both direct coupling (wherein the two elements coupled to each other are in contact with each other) and indirect coupling (wherein at least one additional element is located between the two elements).

[0055] As used herein, the term "substantially" may be applied to modify any quantitative expression that may be acceptably varied without resulting in a change in the basic function to which it pertains. For example, a drive shaft disclosed herein having a circular cross section may have a non-circular cross section to some degree within the scope of the invention if its rotational drive capabilities are not substantially altered.

[0056] As used herein, the term "string" may refer to a group of interconnected medium or high voltage renewable energy generating sources and associated nodal substations.

[0057] As used herein, the term "gigawatt-scale energy" may be used to refer to gigawatt-scale with peak generating capacity of greater than 2.5 GW to 250 GW.

[0058] "Islanded" is used herein to refer to a system that is not connected to an electrical grid that has its own energy generating source, or that has the ability to be disconnected and normally operate independently of another grid or portion of a grid that has its own energy generating source.

[0059] The term "load" is used herein to refer to a processing plant or power plant that converts H2 or hydrogen compounds into larger compounds or electricity. Examples of loads include: green steel, ammonia, methanol, methane processing plants or gas turbines / gas engines / fuel cells.

[0060] The term "electrical load" is used herein to refer to a processing plant or load that uses electricity. Examples of loads include: green steel processing plants, ammonia processing plants, methanol processing plants, methane processing plants, desalination plants, electrolyzer plants, towns and / or cities.

[0061] The term "hydrogen compound" is used herein to refer to a hydrogen atom and one or more other atoms; for example, water (HO) is a hydrogen compound, ammonia (NH) is a hydrogen compound, and there are over 30 hydrogen compounds.

[0062] The term "electrolyzer" is used herein to refer to an electrolyzer or electrolyzers that produce hydrogen or hydrogen compounds. Exemplary electrolyzers include alkaline electrolyzers, Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, Solid Oxide Electrolyzers (SOEC), Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis, and any other form of water electrolysis.

[0063] The term "geographically distributed network" is used herein to refer to a network that is distributed over a geographic area, e.g., 600 km 2 ~50,000km 2 is used to refer to multiple nodes spread across

[0064] A "node" or "nodes" is used to refer to an array of geographically distributed renewable energy sources in electrical communication with electrolyzer(s) to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water, or hydrogen compounds from electrolytic reagents, and electricity transmitted at high pressure via compressor(s) and pipeline(s) to loads. Optionally, a node may transmit electricity to loads via switchgear, power transformers, overhead lines, and / or power cables at higher voltages in electrical communication with other nodes. Each node is fluidly connected with a pipeline to form a "geographically distributed network."

[0065] "Nodal substation" is used herein to refer to a medium or high voltage substation comprising medium and / or high voltage switchgear in electrical communication with strings, electrolyzers, transformers, power cables, overhead lines, and other auxiliary loads requiring electricity.

[0066] "Renewable energy source" or "renewable energy generation source" means an energy source that is produced using natural resources, such as solar, wind, concentrated, wave, tidal, or geothermal, and that is constantly replaced by natural renewal or other recurring processes within a limited time frame on human timescales.

[0067] The term "switchgear" is used to refer to a primary circuit consisting of electrical disconnect switches, fuses, or circuit breakers used to control, protect, and isolate electrical equipment at low, medium, high, and extra-high voltages.

[0068] The term "medium voltage" (MV) is used herein to refer to AC (alternating current) telecommunication voltages at which electricity is transmitted and / or distributed between 1 kV and 36 kV.

[0069] The term "high voltage" (HV) is used herein to refer to AC (alternating current) telecommunications voltages at which electricity is transmitted and / or distributed between 36 kV and 230 kV.

[0070] The term "extra high voltage" (EHV) is used herein to refer to AC (alternating current) telecommunications voltages at which electricity is transmitted and / or distributed above 245 kV, for example, between 245 kV and 1,200 kV.

[0071] Aspects of various embodiments are described by reference to the drawings.

[0072] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 for generating and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distributed sources. The system 100 may provide a variable renewable energy generation, storage and delivery system to large-scale energy consumers. The system 100 may differ from a prior art energy generation and transmission system 200 illustrated in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, which has a centralized power generation system 201 (illustrated as a coal-fired power plant) supplied by a hydrocarbon fuel source 202 (illustrated as a coal mine and coal bunker / port / terminal) and provides power to an adjacent transmission substation 203, a high-voltage power transformer 204, and overhead lines 205, which supplies multiple distributed electrical loads 206, essentially as follows: Distributed fuel (coal, oil, gas, or wood) -> centralized generation -> user

[0073] A transmission / distribution challenge for prior art energy generation and transmission systems such as that shown in FIG. 2 is that when electricity is transmitted over long distances, there are inherent energy losses along the path. High voltage transmission minimizes the amount of power lost as power flows from one location to the next. Higher voltages result in lower currents and therefore lower resistive losses in the conductors. Economic benefits associated with high voltage transmission may also be provided because lower currents require less copper and / or aluminum conductors for high voltage electricity to flow through. This means that thinner, lighter conductors can be used for long distance transmission and transmission towers do not need to be designed to support the heavier conductors associated with lower voltage, higher current energy transmission. These considerations make high voltage power transmission over long distances in some cases the most economical solution for high power energy transmission where the ultimate energy consumption is as electricity and the cost of the power transformers, switchgear, and overhead lines required to transmit the power are economically justified by the proportionate distance over which the power is transmitted and distributed. However, where hydrogen is the ultimate energy use, high power energy transmission of generated electricity from many distributed sources over short distances requiring the same very expensive power transformers, switchgear, and overhead lines is very expensive, proportionate to the electrical energy transmission and conversion costs required for the short distances to be transmitted.

[0074] Previous centralized energy power plants such as coal and nuclear power plants have an average generating capacity of about 6GW to about 8GW and may transmit this power over hundreds to thousands of kilometers to load centers and to distributed electric networks connected to national and / or inter-country distributed load centers. The energy journey from energy storage to energy use relying on these centralized energy power plants may start with the mining of energy stored under the earth's crust (the example above is coal). Here, most of this resource is transported in raw molecular form to centralized coal-fired power plants where it is converted into electrical energy and transmitted at extra high voltage through transmission lines to the distributed electric power networks and finally connected to our load centers / cities. This centralized and base load generation from coal, gas, hydro, and nuclear has iteratively grown from very small networks to today's super GW energy networks.

[0075] Recently, variable renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar power generation have been implemented to provide an alternative to relying on non-renewable energy sources. These renewable energy sources may be integrated into existing electrical transmission networks and infrastructure, which may result in power line losses and energy waste. The transition to variable renewable energy provides an opportunity to change the way energy is generated, stored, and delivered to load centers / cities. Unfortunately, while the energy potential of wind and solar is huge, it is a variable resource that is weather dependent and needs to be secured with stored energy to meet the energy demands that our load centers and cities have 24 / 7 all year round. Large amounts of hydrogen are available as a resource of water (e.g., seawater) and are an important alternative to fossil fuels. However, abundant and cheap energy is required to split hydrogen molecules from oxygen molecules. Wind and solar power generation may be the most efficient currently, and the installation costs of wind and solar power generation are expected to be further reduced in the coming decades. Thus, in some aspects of the present disclosure, energy from variable renewable energy sources may be generated and stored on a large scale for later use by loads.

[0076] Certain regions around the world have the potential to have excellent wind and solar resources in vast remote desert areas adjacent to the ocean. These areas are located within 600km of each other with peak generating capacity of over 1.2GW to 150GW. 2 ~50,000km 2 It covers an area of ​​over 10,000 m² and through many distributed energy "nodes" throughout the site, variable renewable energy can be collected and used to electrolyze water (e.g., desalinated seawater) and separate hydrogen from oxygen at scale. Generating large amounts of power from variable renewable energy sources in remote and vast locations presents challenges in that the transportation and storage of this energy can be inefficient, to burden centers / cities that require constant, firm energy to meet year-round demand.

[0077] Electricity connection and hydrogen production at the node This disclosure details embodiments of how distributed wind and solar power used to produce hydrogen and / or hydrogen compounds can be efficiently and economically collected and transmitted via bulk molecular transport 101 at the oil and gas gigawatt scale using distributed renewable energy "nodes." Each system described herein with a node can be islanded. Below are some specific exemplary embodiments, but the broad concepts can be customized to any site, thereby providing a template for low-cost green hydrogen production.

[0078] FIG. 3 shows a simplified schematic diagram of an exemplary geographically distributed network of renewable energy generation sources comprising wind and solar generating sources in an upstream plant 300, which captures variable solar and wind energy and then converts it to very large-scale high-voltage electrical energy. The upstream plant comprises a number of nodes 301, which are geographically distributed as described below with respect to FIG. 11B. Electrical energy from the renewable energy generation sources is then fed from the wind and solar assets to a midstream nodal substation(s) which converts a portion (e.g., less than 20% or more preferably less than 10%) of the variable high-voltage electrical energy to extra high voltage (EHV) for electrical transmission and distribution to loads 302, e.g., centralized downstream facilities that use hydrogen molecules and / or hydrogen compounds, such as ammonia plants. Electrical transmission may be via overhead transmission lines (OHL), which may have line losses of about 6-8%. Each node 301 is associated with a set of renewable energy generation sources. A significant portion (e.g., more than 20%, or more preferably more than 80%) of the generated variable high voltage electric energy may be converted to hydrogen molecules or hydrogen compounds using water and electrolyzers for more efficient transmission and distribution of bulk energy as hydrogen gas or compounds of hydrogen via a network of high pressure pipelines to loads 302 where the primary input to the loads 302 is hydrogen, i.e., ammonia, methanol, or methane production. In an example, 22 GW of energy transmission via overhead lines and H2 gas pipelines is provided to a centralized downstream renewable fuel processing plant. In this example, the energy transmitted via the pipelines acts as gas catering for energy storage and energy stabilization by line filling of hydrogen / hydrogen compounds in the high pressure pipelines, since the transmission of gas in the pipelines may be more cost effective and energy efficient than the transmission of energy in the form of electricity over high pressure lines. Line filling may decouple the upstream variable renewable generation from the downstream demand. In one example, the pipelines may be 100-300 km long and store / transport hydrogen at 75-100 bar with total energy losses less than 1%.The load 302 may include H2 buffer storage to complement the pipeline.

[0079] The distribution node concept, in which a majority of the electrical energy generated is converted to hydrogen gas at high pressure and then transmitted by pipeline to downstream renewable fuel processing facilities (also referred to herein as loads), is an energy-efficient and cost-effective way of transmitting bulk variable renewable energy from multiple geographically distributed renewable energy nodes where the primary demand of the downstream facilities is hydrogen or hydrogen compounds.

[0080] Each node may be interconnected via, for example, 100 bar or more composite pipelines, allowing for the storage of significant amounts of hydrogen. The pipelines effectively isolate 90% of the variable renewable energy required by downstream renewable fuel processing facilities due to the inherent hydrogen storage capacity of the pipelines, referred to as "line fill", while facilitating more efficient transmission of energy as molecular hydrogen in Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) pipelines over hundreds of kilometers. The same energy transmission would not be cost-effective with otherwise unstable electrical energy alone. As renewable energy generation and production at nodes across a geographic area changes, downstream renewable fuel processing plants may draw down hydrogen stored in the pipelines to a minimum allowable pressure, and downstream renewable fuel processing plants, e.g., ammonia plants, may continue to operate at reduced capacity when renewable energy generation at the node is reduced, for periods of up to 8 hours or more, for example.

[0081] Continuing with the example of FIG. 3, bulk variable renewable energy may be transferred as electrons via overhead power lines and hydrogen (or hydrogen compounds) via FRP gas pipelines to loads 302 from nodal substations and electrolyzer(s) located midstream of each distributed geographically distributed node 301, respectively. Each nodal substation and / or electrolyzer may be geographically defined within or adjacent to a wind / solar variable renewable energy generation source. Bulk transfer of over 2.5 GW of energy is most efficiently transferred as pressurized gas in gas pipelines, where the majority of the energy required by loads 302 is hydrogen molecules and / or hydrogen compound(s). Permeation of this chemical energy as hydrogen gas and / or hydrogen compound(s) would be substantially more efficient with losses of less than about 1%.

[0082] In one example, the distance between the string of wind turbines and the solar power skids from the node 301 nodal substation and / or electrolyzer train may be 3-50 km. Electricity can be efficiently transmitted over these distances at 66 kV with losses of approximately 1.5%-2.5%. However, instead of converting this energy at the node 301 using a step-up power transformer in the node 301 from high voltage (HV) 66 kV to extra high voltage (EHV) 500 kV, 765 kV or higher, the electrical energy may be converted to hydrogen or hydrogen compounds using the electrolyzer(s) at each node 301.

[0083] Hydrogen can be produced from electricity by electrolysis, where hydrogen molecules are separated from oxygen molecules in water (H2O) that is pumped to each of the multiple nodes 301 through a network of water pipes networked to each node 301. The energy required to pump water to all the nodes 301 can be negligible, less than about 0.025% of peak renewable generation. Each electrolyzer can act like a transformer, where within the node 301, electricity and water are converted to hydrogen gas for bulk energy transmission to the loads 302 in high pressure pipelines, rather than converting electricity from high voltage to extra high voltage electricity and transmitting this bulk energy to the loads as electricity over overhead lines, as in the example of FIG. 4 described below.

[0084] Both hydrogen and water can be pressurized and pumped through special non-metallic pipelines. In one example, the pipelines can be made of composite reinforced polymer materials including a combination of plastic resins, fiberglass, carbon fiber, basalt fiber, and aramid fiber (Kevlar 129), for example, multiple 24-inch pipelines rated at 100 bar transport about 200 tons of hydrogen / hour (i.e., about 6.6 GWh of energy / hour) at pressures of 75 bar to 100 bar with less than about 1% energy loss. The pipelines can be buried underground so that they are not exposed to the elements, they do not rust and suffer from hydrogen metal embrittlement because they are not made of metal, and any overhead lines using the same mitigation will not induce stray currents and / or voltages in the pipeline. Variations of the above example(s) are possible and are within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the pipeline diameter can be larger or smaller than 24 inches, and / or there can be many more parallel pipeline runs than mentioned above at pressures exceeding 100 bar.

[0085] Like most processing plants, the load 302, e.g., a renewable fuel processing plant such as an ammonia plant, requires a steady and robust energy supply to operate optimally 24 / 7, but due to the variable nature of the wind and solar PV electrical energy generated upstream, as is the case for any downstream processing plant load, large amounts of energy must be stored to maintain the required constant operation of the ammonia plant.

[0086] In Figure 3, hydrogen pipelines serve the dual purpose of both being an efficient transmitter of large amounts of energy with minimal energy loss, and acting as a hydrogen storage medium, commonly referred to as "line fill." For example, the amount of hydrogen stored at 100 bar in approximately 3,500 km of 10" FRP pipeline, and in approximately 1,100 km of 24" fiberglass, basalt fiber, aramid fiber, and carbon fiber reinforced pipeline, is approximately 1.5 million kg, which is approximately 50 GWh of stored energy.

[0087] Hydrogen gas line filling in a pipeline may effectively decouple variable renewable generation from the load, for example, an ammonia processing plant, which may have a demand where approximately 93% of its total energy is molecular hydrogen. Only approximately 7% of the energy required to produce hydrogen for the production of ammonia based on the Haber-Bosch process is required as electricity, which is a very small percentage of the total energy demand and can be easily transmitted using standard commercial transformers, switchgear, and overhead lines available in the market today. This example specifically refers to the hydrogen demand of an ammonia processing plant, but the same principles apply to any load whose end product uses hydrogen or hydrogen compounds as input demand, hydrogen gas-fired power plants, green steel processing plants, national hydrogen gas transmission / distribution systems, or national / regional electric energy systems.

[0088] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary alternative approach to large-scale energy generation and transmission, where a geographically distributed network of renewable energy generating assets, including wind and solar, in an upstream plant 400 captures variable solar and wind energy, which is then converted by transformers to all extra-high voltage (EHV) electrical energy, which is then transmitted as electrical energy to a centralized downstream facility 402, where more than 90% of the extra-high voltage (EHV) electrical energy is converted to lower voltage through several steps before being fed to an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen or hydrogen compounds using water at the downstream facility 402. In this example, 22 GW of energy is transmitted via overhead lines to a centralized downstream electrolyzer / renewable fuel processing plant. An overview of the approach illustrated in FIG. 4 is shown in the system 150 of FIG. 1. Electricity from renewable energy sources is converted by transformers to EHV electrical energy for bulk electron transmission 151 to the downstream plant. In the illustrative example of FIG. 4, overhead lines (OHL) can be 100-300 km of transmission of electricity at 500-765 kV AC with transmission line losses of about 8-12%. Bulk variable renewable energy is transferred as electrons via a centralized downstream facility 402, i.e., a centralized downstream facility 402, where electrolysis is located centrally adjacent to the load. This can be a viable method of supplying power loads with demand less than 6 GW and from stable generation sources such as pumped hydroelectricity, where high voltage alternating current (HVAC) electrical transmission has losses of about 8% to 12% depending on AC voltage and distance, while high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical transmission is expected to have losses of about 3%. However, the exemplary method of energy transfer shown in FIG. 4 can be inefficient and expensive compared to the approach shown in FIG. 3 for the generation and transmission of bulk energy to a processing plant utilizing hydrogen or hydrogen compounds. In particular, the alternative approach presents a number of challenges, including: The transmission of more than 6 GW of AC electrical energy over distances greater than 5 km but less than 300 km is highly inefficient, with electrical losses from the source to downstream plants being more than 10%; · The transmission of more than 6 GW of DC electrical energy over distances less than 800 km is very expensive due to the requirement of very expensive AC-DC converter stations. Electrical energy from variable renewable sources such as wind and solar must be harvested before being delivered to the loads (e.g., ammonia, methanol, methane plants), which can be inefficient and expensive. To obtain variable electrical energy, energy must be converted into another state, i.e., thermal, mechanical, gravitational, or chemical energy; electricity (electrons) cannot be stored in their inherent state.

[0089] In Figure 4, the transmission of large amounts of energy from variable renewable generation spread over a wide geographic area may require a significant amount of electrical transmission equipment, including multiple extra-high voltage (EHV) substations, step-up and step-down power transformers, overhead lines and power cables. The large amounts of copper, aluminum and steel to transmit this energy can be expensive and inefficient due to line losses. Converting power at the GW scale would require some of the largest and heaviest power transformers ever built, creating logistical challenges for projects being developed in remote regions with few port, rail and road facilities available to transport these very large, heavy, expensive and sensitive assets.

[0090] Continuing with the example of FIG. 4, multiple extra-high voltage and high voltage (HV) overhead lines may also be subject to elements such as cyclonic weather, lightning strikes, and forest fires, necessitating high levels of redundancy in the transmission and distribution infrastructure, further increasing the upfront costs of the project's electrical infrastructure. Converting GW of electricity generated at low voltages in upstream wind turbines and solar power skids to extra-high voltages of 500 kV to 765 kV or more and then back to low voltages (e.g., about 690 V) at downstream electrolyzers / renewable energy plants hundreds of kilometers away results in substantial energy losses of between 8% and 12% of all electrical transmission energy. In contrast, the system shown in FIG. 3 may have losses of less than 1% because the energy is transmitted as hydrogen gas molecules or as hydrogen compounds in the pipeline. Electrical energy losses may be a result of transformer losses, heat losses, corona losses, and / or interconnection losses as electricity travels from the generation source to the load through all electrical primary circuits.

[0091] 5 illustrates an exemplary system 510 comprising three 1.2 GW-1.3 GW distributed electrolysis nodes 500 in the midstream that collect high voltage electrical energy from upstream variable renewable wind and solar resources 501 and convert the bulk (>90%) of this high voltage (HV) electrical energy into hydrogen using water and electricity as input to the electrolyzers of each node 500 before transmitting hydrogen gas 503 (i.e., chemical energy) from the nodes 500 to downstream loads 504, such as centralized ammonia, methanol, methane processing plants. The variable renewable wind and solar resources 501 comprise wind turbine strings and solar battery strings, which are described in detail below. Each of the nodes 500 may be the same as the nodes 300 described above, and each may have the same features and advantages described above.

[0092] In one example, less than 10% of the energy generated by the variable renewable energy sources of the system 510 is transmitted as extra-high voltage electricity 502 to downstream loads 504, e.g., centralized ammonia, methanol, methane processing plants. Continuing the example, 90% of the energy generated by the variable renewable energy sources of the system 510 is converted to hydrogen by electrolyzer(s), and the energy losses associated with transmitting the compressed hydrogen in the pipeline 503 are less than about 1%. The energy losses associated with transmitting the extra-high voltage electricity over the electrical network 502 (which represents less than 10% of the energy demand) may exceed 10%. The total energy losses of all energy transmitted according to FIG. 5 may be less than about 5%. FIG. 6 shows an example of three 1.2 GW-1.3 GW distributed extra-high voltage power generation systems 600 in the midstream that collect high voltage electrical energy from upstream variable renewable wind and solar resources 601 and convert all high voltage (HV) electrical energy to extra-high voltage electrical energy 602 before transmitting electricity to downstream loads 604, such as centralized electrolyzer plants to produce hydrogen as input adjacent to ammonia, methanol, methane processing plants. The example shown in FIG. 4 may incorporate the system 400 shown in FIG. 4. The energy losses associated with transmitting all the extra-high voltage electricity through the electrical network to produce all the hydrogen, and therefore ammonia, methanol, methane, at the downstream loads 604, including processing plants, may exceed 10%. The electrical infrastructure costs to transmit the energy and the required hydrogen / energy storage costs required to ensure supply to the plants are prohibitive compared to the system shown in FIG. 5.

[0093] The collection of vast renewable wind and / or solar energy (or other renewable energy resources) on an oil and gas scale may be limited by the rating of the switchgear that electrically connects the renewable energy sources to the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) wind turbine and the highest possible rated voltage / current of the solar power inverter skid available. This limit may be 66 kV, with a busbar rating of 3,150 A to 4,000 A. An offshore wind turbine may be designed to have a maximum rated voltage of 66 kV AC, while a solar power skid may have a maximum rated voltage of 33 kV, such that there is no technical or commercial impediment for the solar power skid to have the same rating as a wind turbine at 66 kV or higher. The switchgear ratings and voltages described therein are not limited to the above examples and may exceed 66 kV.

[0094] An exemplary system according to the present disclosure, such as the exemplary system of FIG. 3 or the exemplary system 510 of FIG. 5, may provide gigawatt-scale energy of 2.5 GW or more. In one embodiment, an exemplary nodal system according to the present disclosure may provide gigawatt-scale energy of 6 GW or more, which may provide energy efficiency over centralized generation systems, such as the exemplary system shown in FIG. 4. Energy efficiency may depend on factors such as the geographic area and whether the downstream energy demand is primarily hydrogen or electricity. When renewable energy sources are distributed over a large geographic area, a system according to the present disclosure may have improved energy efficiency over a centralized system. In one embodiment, the renewable energy sources of a system according to the present disclosure may be distributed over a range of at least 500 km 2 In another embodiment, the area may be distributed over at least 1000 km 2 , or at least 2000 km 2 , or at least 6000 km 2Distributing the nodal system according to the present disclosure over a larger geographic area provides more available area for distributing renewable energy sources to increase energy production, making the nodal system described herein more efficient compared to a traditional centralized system. In situations where only electricity is required for downstream loads, a traditional centralized system may be preferred because HVDC or HVAC transmission lines may be used. However, when hydrogen or hydrogen compounds are required by the load, a distributed nodal system, such as the system described below with respect to FIG. 3, may be more efficient. In one example, if more than 80% of the load demand is hydrogen or hydrogen compounds, the transmission of hydrogen or hydrogen compounds via pipelines may provide 80% and 20% of the load energy requirements as electricity via HVDC or HVAC.

[0095] FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary 100 MW wind power string 700a comprising ten 10 MW wind turbines 701 each connected to a power cable 703 through a Ring Main Unit (RMU) 702a, e.g., a 66 kV power cable that in turn couples each RMU to a first power cable and couples a midstream nodal substation 708 to each wind turbine. The nodal substation 708 may be an exemplary nodal substation discussed below with respect to FIG. 8a. Each wind turbine and / or solar power generating cell may provide electricity at a distribution voltage level to the nodal substation 704. The string 700a may include short-term energy storage 704 for backup power to the wind turbines 701. The string 700a may also be in electrical communication with a nodal substation of a node according to the present disclosure, such as the exemplary node shown in FIG. 8a, via connection 710. The node may include a nodal substation having at least one electrolyzer for producing hydrogen and / or hydrogen compounds.

[0096] FIG. 7B is an example of a 100 MW wind turbine string 700b comprising ten 10 MW wind turbines 700, each connected to an overhead line (OHL) 705, e.g., a 66 kV overhead line, coupling a node according to the present disclosure, e.g., a nodal substation 708 of the exemplary node shown in FIG. 8a, to each of the ten wind turbines shown via connections 710, which may be OHLs or other means of transmitting electrical energy. The node may include a nodal substation having at least one electrolyzer for producing hydrogen and / or hydrogen compounds. The OHL connections between the wind turbines 700 may also be coupled to the RMU 702a of FIG. 7A via connections 710. Similar to the string 700a of FIG. 7A, the string 700b may include short-term energy storage 704 for backup power to the wind turbine string 700b.

[0097] 7C is an exemplary 100 MW solar power string 700c comprising ten 10 MW solar power skids 706 each connected to a power cable, e.g., a 66 kV power cable, through a ring main unit (RMU) connecting each RMU 702c to the next. A connection 710 may couple each RMU 702c to a nodal substation 708 of a node according to the present disclosure, e.g., the exemplary node shown in FIG. 8a. and the RMU 702a of string 700a and / or the OHL 705 of string 700b shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b. The node may include a nodal substation having at least one electrolyzer for producing hydrogen and / or hydrogen compounds.

[0098] Each group of wind turbines and solar power skids is referred to as a string in Figures 7A-7C. In an example, a 100 MW wind turbine string(s) and a 100 MW solar power string may each have a maximum current carrying capacity of 1,250 A at 66 kV connected by a commercially available 66 kV Ring Main Unit (RMU), which may be electrically tied together in a node of a nodal substation. In other examples, each string may be rated for higher or lower voltages and currents.

[0099] Within each node, the ratio of wind to solar power can be site specific, and in the example where the strings of Figures 7A-7C are joined at a nodal substation, the ratio is 2:1, with twice the amount of wind power to solar power. However, the ratio can vary and is optimized to achieve the lowest levelized cost of energy / hydrogen for the systems described herein. In one example, the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) can be determined based on the following: {(Construction cost excluding interest*Capital recovery factor+Fixed O&M cost) / (8760*Capital capacity utilization factor)}+(Fuel cost*Heat rate)+Variable O&M cost

[0100] Figure 8A shows a schematic diagram of the electrical connections of an exemplary node 800 with a (66 kV) wind power string WT and a (66 kV) solar power string PV. Figure 8B shows an overhead plan view of the exemplary node 800. More specifically, the node 800 as shown in Figure 8A is connected to eight 100 MW wind turbine strings WT, four 100 MW solar power strings PV. The node 800 comprises four 150 MW electrolyzer trains 801 and an HV or EHV connection to a load 802, e.g. an EHV connection at 220 kV to the load 802. The (66 kV) switchgear may connect to all wind, solar strings, electrolyzer trains, and auxiliary loads in the node via busbars B-1, B-2, B-3, and B-4 to the 220 kV switchgear in an "H" configuration via two 220 / 66 kV / 66 kV step-up power transformers 803. Both the 220 kV and 66 kV switchboards depict normal operating mode at maximum generation and demand with all bus section and bus coupler breakers open.

[0101] In the example shown in FIG. 8A, the wind and solar generated energy from strings WT, PV are from eight wind turbine strings and four solar generating strings rated for 100 MW peak generation, and each string WT, PV may be connected at node 805 to a 66 kV distribution panel divided into four zones, bus bars B-1, B-2, B-3, and B-4, each having a maximum bus bar rated current of 3,150 A at 66 kV. Each zone defined by bus bars B-1, B-2, B-3, and B-4 is connected to other bus bar zones through bus section and / or bus coupler circuit breakers rated at 3,150 A, for example. These breakers are ganged together so that the current flowing through the bus bar zones when connected together at one time does not exceed the bus bar rating (e.g., 3,150 A). If two busbars connected together begin to exceed, for example, a maximum combined busbar current rating of 3,150 A (i.e., exceed 1,575 A for each of the two connected busbars), they will be automatically disconnected from each other by opening the bus coupler or bus section circuit breakers of the busbars, respectively, or if four busbars connected together exceed an exemplary maximum combined busbar current rating of 3,150 A (i.e., exceed 787 A for each of the four connected busbars), each busbar will be automatically disconnected from each other with all bus section and bus coupler breakers open, as shown in FIG. 8a. This principle applies to the rating of any OEM switchgear according to this disclosure. If the current on adjacent (66 kV) switchgear busbar zones falls to a level that allows two or more of the (66 kV) switchgear busbar zones to connect without exceeding the nominal rating of the busbar current rating, two or more of the bus coupler breakers and / or bus section breakers will automatically close. In the example shown in Figure 8a, the 66 kV bus section and bus coupler breakers are open because the busbars are limited in rating to 3150 A and, if both busbars are connected, there is a risk of one of the busbars being overloaded if one of the transformer feeder breakers opens or trips.The voltages, wattages, currents, and numbers of wind turbine strings, solar PV strings, electrolyzers, switchgear, and other ancillary equipment used in the examples herein are exemplary and may be varied to optimize the design of a node according to the present disclosure.

[0102] FIG. 9 shows the node 800 shown in FIG. 8a, but with the bus section breaker 806 between busbars B-1 and B-2 closed and all other bus section and bus coupler breakers open. In the example of FIG. 9, the energy generated by the solar power string PV on busbars B-1 and B-2 is constrained by cloud cover and the energy generated by the wind turbine string WT on busbars B-1 and B-2 is reduced. The closure of the bus section breaker between busbars B-1 and B-2 can be autonomous to rationalize / optimize the energy delivered to the electrolyzer train (e.g., 150 MW electrolyzer) on busbars 1 and 2 without exceeding the rated current of the 66 kV busbars 1 and 2. The load 802 may not have power available to transmit downstream from B-1 and B-2 to the 220 kV network.

[0103] In the example of Figure 9, the power of the 66 kV busbar B-2 delivered by the string WT and the PV connected to it drops below half and the 66 kV bus section breaker 806 is automatically closed to optimize the continuous operation of the electrolyzer trains 801 connected to busbars B-1 and B-2. The autonomous switching of the connecting busbars may balance the energy supply to all electrolyzer trains 801, which may maximize their utilization for any one time available renewable generation.

[0104] The HV connection 802 to the load, e.g., a downstream ammonia plant, may have an electrical demand from each node 800 of about 50 MW, and additional capacity beyond this may be transmitted from the HV connection 802 to separate other downstream domestic users to the load. Each node 800 may be capable of transmitting about 300 MW of power over a 220 kV HV transmission network. In one example, additional energy from busbars B-3, B-4, e.g., 318 MW, may be used for local node auxiliary loads such as compressors and energy storage, and / or additional supply to busbars B-1 and B-2 via a bus coupler between busbars B-2 and B-4.

[0105] Figure 10 is the same switchboard shown in Figures 8-9, but in this example, the bus coupler breakers 807 between busbars B-1 and B-3 are both closed and all other bus section and bus coupler breakers are open. This is because the energy generated by solar PV on busbars B-1 and B-3 is constrained due to cloud cover and the energy generated by wind on busbars B-1 and B-3 has decreased. The closure of the bus coupler breakers between busbars B-1 and B-3 is autonomous and streamlines the energy delivered to the electrolyzer trains 801 on busbars B-1 and B-3 without exceeding the current rating of the 66 kV busbars B-1 and B-3.

[0106] As shown in FIG. 10, node 800 shows a switchboard configuration in which the bus coupler circuit breakers isolating busbars B-1 and B-3 are both in the closed position, optimizing the available energy generated to supply each of the exemplary electrolyzers 801 (e.g., 150 MW electrolyzers) connected to each of the busbars B-1 and B-3. Continuing with the example shown in FIG. 10, the generated energy connected to the 66 kV busbar B-3 drops to less than half of its nominal generating capacity. To optimize and maximize the continuous operation of the electrolyzer trains 801 connected to both busbar zones B-1 and B-3, the (66 kV) bus coupler circuit breakers between busbar zones B-1 and B-3 can both be automatically closed. The autonomous switching connecting the two busbars can balance the energy supply to all electrolyzer trains 801 maximizing their utilization for any one time available renewable generation. In one example, for node 800, when the current falls below a threshold, e.g., one-quarter of the nominal generating capacity, all four zones B-1, B-2, B-3, and B-4 may then connect by closing all bus sections and bus couplers. This autonomous interlocking operation may be managed by protective relays / bay controllers in each of the switchgear bays and a comprehensive energy management system. While the above example may be applied to a 66 kV rated switchgear with a maximum current carrying capacity of 3,150 amps, the switchgear of the present disclosure may be applied to any suitable switchgear rating, such as lower voltage and current ranges or higher voltage and current ranges (e.g., 33 kV / 2500 A to 132 kV / 5,000 A).

[0107] As shown in FIG. 10, the 66 kv bus couple breaker is closed between busbars B-1 and B-3, sharing the local supply across both busbars to the connected electrolyzer loads, with no power available for transmission downstream over the 220 kV network from these to the busbar to load 802. The load 802, e.g., downstream ammonia plant, has an electrical demand from each node 800 of about 50 MW, and any additional capacity beyond this may be transmitted to other downstream domestic users that are not part of the load 802. Each node 800 may be capable of transmitting about 300 MW of electrical energy over the (220 kV) high voltage transmission network. Busbars B-2 and B-4 may provide an additional 318 MW of energy that may be used for local node auxiliary loads such as compressors and energy storage and / or additional supply to busbars B-1 and B-3 via the bus section between busbars B-1 and B-2, or B-3 and B-4.

[0108] FIG. 11a illustrates an example system 1000 with nodes according to the present disclosure, which may be the same system described above with respect to FIG.

[0109] FIG. 11B illustrates an exemplary overview of a node of the system 1000 shown in FIG. 11a. The nodal substation 1500 may be configured to provide 1.2 GW to 1.3 GW and be connected to eight 100 MW wind turbine strings 1100 and four 100 MW solar power skid strings 1200 via a power cable network 1300, e.g., a 66 kV high voltage line. In this example, the wind turbine strings 1100 may be approximately 4.6 km apart, and each wind turbine in the string 1100 may be approximately 800 m away from an adjacent wind turbine. The positioning of each wind turbine is not limited to the example and may be optimized based on where the wind turbines are installed. The wind turbine string 1100 may include a 10 MW wind turbine connected to the node 1000 via a power cable network 1300, which may include overhead lines and power cables. The solar power skid string 1200 may include solar power inverter skidling main units and 10 MW solar power modules connected to nodes via a power cable network (e.g., 66 KV). In this example, the solar power skid string 1200 may be about 4 km long and about 2 km wide. The edges of the solar power skid string 1200 may be parallel to the adjacent wind turbine string 1100 and positioned about 1.3 km apart to prevent shading from the wind turbines on the solar power skid string 1200 and its solar power modules.

[0110] In the example shown in Figures 11a and 11b, a nodal substation 1500 is connected to 80 10 MW wind turbines via eight 66 kV high voltage overhead lines and / or power cables of the power cable network 1300 that may terminate on 66 kV switchgear in a 220 / 66 kV substation located at the center of the node 1500. As shown, the nodal substation 1500 may be surrounded by, for example, four 100 MW solar power strings, each having ten solar power skids rated for 10 MW, connected via 66 kV high voltage power cables that terminate on 66 kV switchgear in a 220 / 66 kV substation located at the center of the node 1500. The amount of wind turbines and solar power skids in the strings may vary depending on the high voltage and current carrying capacity of the switchgear from one exemplary system 1000 to another exemplary system 1000.

[0111] In one embodiment, the renewable energy sources at each node, e.g., solar power skid string 1200 and wind turbine string 1100, may define a perimeter 1001, shown generally as a dotted line in Figure 11b. The nodal substation 1500 may be defined within the perimeter 1001, as shown in Figure 11b. Other exemplary locations of nodal substations within or on the perimeter defined by the renewable energy sources at each node are shown in Figures 13, 16-20.

[0112] Figure 12 shows a 6,000 km 2 2 shows an overhead plan view of an exemplary system 2000 with 18 nodes 2500 according to the present disclosure distributed over an area of ​​1000 m2. Each node 2500 may have a nominal peak generating capacity of 1.2 GW to 1.3 GW, totaling approximately 22 GW for the complete geographically distributed wind turbine string 2100 and solar power skid string 2200.

[0113] Multiple nodes 2500 can cover a geographic area that can be expanded or contracted to achieve any desired energy generation. In the example shown in FIG. 2There are 18 nodes 2500 covering an area of ​​about 1000 m². Each node 2500 may be rated at 1.2 GW to 1.3 GW for a total of about 22 GW, with a power factor of about 0.85. The number of nodes 2500 may depend on the size and shape of the available geographic land area. Each node 2500 may have the node characteristics shown in FIG. 11b. In the example shown in FIG. 12, each row of wind turbines may be about 4.6 km apart so that wake effects between the rows of wind turbines are minimized, and within each row, each wind turbine is about 800 m apart so that blade tip vortices between adjacent wind turbines in the row do not interfere with each other.

[0114] The center of each node 2500, where most of the energy generated may be converted to hydrogen, may be surrounded by a 400 MW solar power skid string 2200 and may be less than 2 km centered between wind turbine rows that may be about 4.6 km or more apart, so that the wind turbines do not cast shadows over the solar farm at the start and end of each day. The illustrated arrangement of the wind turbine string 2100 and solar power skid string 2200 is specific to this example, and the distance between the wind turbine row and adjacent wind turbines may vary between site locations based on wind, solar resources, and geographic constraints.

[0115] Each solar power skid string 2200 may be approximately 4 km long, for example, with the wind turbine strings 2100 and electrical interfaces to the solar power skid strings 2200 connected to the nodes 2500 via a combination of 66 kV overhead lines and / or 66 kV power cables in such a way that shading of the solar power modules is minimized. This arrangement may be unique to this example where the distance between the wind turbine rows changes the width and length of the solar power plant due to shading, i.e., the solar power skid string may have a longer width than if the wind turbine rows were 4 km apart.

[0116] 12, a load 2802, e.g., a downstream ammonia plant, may use less than about 10%, e.g., 8-10%, of the energy required to synthesize ammonia as electricity, which may be transmitted from node 2500 via a power cable network 2300, such as extra high voltage overhead lines. 90% of the energy required to produce ammonia comes from the production of hydrogen, all of which is generated at the exemplary 1.2 GW node 2500. The hydrogen is transmitted from node 2500 to the downstream load 2802 via high pressure hydrogen gas pipeline(s) 2900.

[0117] The above design principles may vary from system to system and can be configured for site-specific geographies and constraints, but are based on the node concept described herein.

[0118] FIG. 13 shows an overhead plan view of an example 400 MW-500 MW solar power plant with a nodal substation 1350 at the center of the solar power plant. The location of the nodal substation 1350 is not limited to the center of the solar power plant. FIGS. 16-20 show other example locations of the nodal substation with respect to a solar power plant geographically configured as a rectangle. FIG. 16 shows solar power plants or concentrated solar plants A, B, C, and D with a centralized nodal substation. Each solar power plant may include multiple solar arrays / clusters 1-n. FIG. 17 shows solar power plants or concentrated solar plants A, B, C, and D with nodal substations 1350 positioned at opposing peripheral edges of the solar power plants A-D. FIG. 18 shows solar power plants or concentrated solar plants A, B, C, and D with nodal substations 1350 positioned at opposing peripheral edges of the short sides of the solar plants. FIG. 19 shows solar power plants or concentrated solar plants A, B, C, and D with nodal substations 1350 positioned on opposite peripheral edges of each of the solar power plants A-D. FIG. 20 shows solar power plants or concentrated solar plants A, B, C, and D positioned laterally adjacent to one another. Each solar power plant has a nodal substation positioned on a peripheral edge of the solar power plant or solar plant. The nodal substations 1350 may include a 220 / 66 kV substation and a 150 MW electrolyzer train at the center of the nodal substation 1350, like the substations described above with respect to FIGS. 8a-10. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 13 and FIGS. 16-20, the solar power plants provide 400 MW-500 MW, with each solar power plant A, B, C, and D including a 100 MW solar array that constitutes the solar power plant. Each solar power plant may be in electrical communication with a nodal substation 1350 via a power cable 1335 that transmits electricity generated by the solar arrays over a long distance to the nodal substation 1350. The longer the geographic distance that power travels from the point of generation to the nodal substation 1350 via the power cable 1335, the greater the line losses associated with transmitting power from each solar array may increase proportionately.The nodal substation 1350 may be positioned to minimize line losses from the solar power strings with solar power plants A, B, C, and D. The nodal substation 1350 may be in electrical communication with other nodes, such as the arrangement of nodes shown in FIG. 12. Similarly, the nodal substation 1350 may be in fluid communication with loads and other nodes via pipelines 1390. For example, the nodal substation 1350 may be the nodal substation of node 2500 in the system 2000 shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 14 shows an overhead plan view of an exemplary nodal substation 1400. The nodal substation 1400 may provide 1.2 GW to 1.3 GW with four 160 MW electrolyzer trains. FIG. 14 shows additional details of an exemplary nodal substation 1400, including four electrolyzer trains 1480, a 220 / 66 kV substation, battery storage, fuel cells, a compressor station, and other electrical balance of plant (EBoP) and mechanical balance of plant (MBoP). The exemplary nodal substation 1400 may be exemplary of the nodal 800 substation shown in FIG. 8b or other nodes described herein. The layout and size of the nodes are not limited to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 14. Each nodal substation may include the following elements, which are also shown in FIG. 14, which shows a schematic diagram of the exemplary nodal substation 1400: 66kV gas insulated switchboard 132kV or 275kV gas insulated switchgear 6.6kV gas insulated switchboard 150MVA 66kV / 132kV or 66kV / 275kV Winding Step-up Power Transformer 20MVA 66kV / 6.6kV Winding Power Transformer 20MVA 66kV / 6.6kV Winding Power Transformer-(Compressor Station) 50MVA 66kV / 6.6kV Winding Power Transformer-(Synchronous Condenser) 1.5MVA 66kV / 0.415kV winding auxiliary transformer (substation auxiliary load) 70MVAr synchronous condenser + flywheel 10MW 66kV / 0.69kV Winding Power Transformer (Electrolyzer Load) 20MW electrolyser modules across each electrolyser train 690V air-insulated low voltage switchgear ·Group of 20MW AC / DC converters 0.5MVA 66kV / 0.415kV Winding Auxiliary Transformer (Electrolyzer Train) 5.5MW 3-stage hydrogen compressor station Hydrogen gas terminal skid 3MW / 1MWh Battery Storage Solution ·1MW Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant ·Electrolyzer cooling water plant (cooling fan / absorption cooler) ·Water purification plants - (desalination / ultraviolet rays / filtration) 75KW Water Pump Station ·3 ton 200 bar hydrogen buffer storage tank. ·Hydrogen deoxygenation drying plant Hydrogen dry bed tank 100 ton desalinated water storage tank Reject water evaporation pond Electrolyzer train building 66kV / 132kV or 275kV substation Main 1 and Main 2 backup 110V DC battery storage Main 1 and Main 2 backup 48V DC battery storage ·Main 1 & Main 2 Backup 110V DC / 240VAC Inverter 66kV / 132kV or 275kV substation protection and control automation system 6.6kV Synchronous Condenser Protection and Control Automation System Electrolyzer process control system Helicopter / drone landing pad

[0119] In the example shown in FIG. 14, the nodal substation 1400 may be in electrical communication with at least 1.2 GW of variable renewable generation via 66 kV overhead lines and / or power cables, which in turn may connect to 132 kV or 220 kV or 275 kV overhead lines that supply loads, 132 kV / 66 kV or 220 kV / 66 kV or 275 kV / 66 kV step-up power transformers that supply loads, downstream renewable fuel processing plants, such as green ammonia, green methanol, green methane plants, and / or other types of domestic loads. Loads such as downstream renewable fuel processing plants may require 7% to 10% of the total energy required by electrolysis to produce hydrogen as electricity within the node. The majority of the energy generated by the wind turbines and / or solar power strings is used to convert water to hydrogen within each geographically distributed node, with the hydrogen being compressed and transmitted to the loads via pipelines. The voltages used in the examples of this disclosure are described for node ratings between 33 kV and 275 kV, and between 0.6 GW and 2.6 GW, although the voltages may vary depending on the switchgear ratings of each node.

[0120] Approximately 90% of the 1.2 GW-1.3 GW of renewable generation connected to the nodal substation 1400 via 66 kV overhead lines and power cable strings may be fed directly to four 140 MW-160 MW electrolyzer trains 1480 in the nodal substation 1400 and electricity may be converted via electrolysis to renewable hydrogen by optimizing the utilization of the electrolyzer assets to 80% or more as much as possible. The same principles above apply to different sized nodes which may have electrolyzer trains of 50 MW-320 MW.

[0121] Each node may be connected via multiple high pressure fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) pipelines to loads, e.g., downstream renewable fuel processing plants, such as green ammonia, green methanol, green methane plants, etc. These pipelines may be rated to transport multiple tons of hydrogen per hour from each node to the loads, at pressures ranging from 30 bar to 200 bar or more.

[0122] In the electrolyzer train, hydrogen may be split from water (H2O) through the process of electrolysis. Water may be delivered to each node in a high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipeline that delivers this water as desalinated / deionized water directly from the ocean, drinking water or seawater, or to downstream desalination / desalination plants closer to the shore. Each node may use millions of liters of desalinated / deionized water per day when operating at full capacity, which may depend on the rating of the electrolyzer train and the available renewable power being generated at any given time. The water provided to each node is shown in Figure 5.

[0123] FIG. 15 illustrates example assets that may constitute a node according to this disclosure.

[0124] The multiple nodes may be in electrical communication through switchgear, such as Gas-Insulated Switchgear (GIS), Highly-Integrated Switchgear (HIS), or Air-Insulated Switchgear (AIS), via EHV or HV Overhead Line (OHL), with OHL capacity ranging from 200 MW to 2000 MW or more. In one example, two or more nodes may be connected in a node string. Each of the node strings may be connected to a 132 kV or 275 kV step-up power transformer, and connected to a 500 kV or 765 kV GIS terminal substation. This example is specific and variations on this will vary based on project and site specific geography and constraints.

[0125] All nodes may be electrically connected via EHV or HV overhead lines to a substation, for example a Gas Insulated Switchgear ("GIS") substation at the load, so that if any node or combination of nodes in the node string becomes constrained in its renewable generation due to reduced cloud cover and / or wind over any area of ​​the site, renewable energy from other nodes in another area of ​​the site can make up some or all of the difference by backfeeding to the node experiencing the constraint via the GIS terminal substation.

[0126] If the load, e.g., fuel processing plant (green ammonia, green methanol, green methane), is, e.g., more than 200 km away from the node, a GIS terminal substation, e.g., a 500 kV or 765 kV GIS substation, may be positioned around the node to connect to the downstream terminal substation via an OHL, e.g., multiple 500 kV or 765 kV OHLs, and any other domestic loads. For example, transmission of 4 GW of electrical energy over a distance of 300 km may require four 500 kV feeders on two separate 500 kV OHL tower mitigation, each circuit having a capacity to transmit approximately 1200 MVA of electrical energy. This example is specific, and substation positioning and line voltage variations are project dependent and vary based on site-specific geography and constraints. The OHL voltage may vary from 500 kV or 765 kV, the downstream demand may be less than or greater than 4 GW, and each OHL circuit may carry more or less than 1300 MVA depending on the voltage and distance.

[0127] According to the present disclosure, variable renewable wind and solar resources can be converted into hydrogen molecules (i.e., chemical energy as gas) in electrolyzer trains at each node and transmitted to the load under high pressure through a combined hydrogen pipeline. In the example shown in FIG. 12, FIG. 18, if the load plant is more than 200 km from the variable renewable wind and solar resources, each node can be connected to a gas terminal station adjacent to the periphery of the renewable energy source through two to three 10 inch FRP pipelines. The hydrogen collected from all the nodes at the gas terminal station can then be further compressed by a booster compressor to 75 bar to 100 bar in a 24 inch high pressure fiberglass, basalt, aramid, carbon fiber reinforced pipeline with a capacity of carrying about 200 tons of hydrogen per hour. The size and pressure described in this example are not limiting and can vary depending on the site-specific geography and constraints. For example, the pipeline diameter may be greater or less than 10 inches and / or 24 inches, and / or there may be additional parallel pipelines beyond those mentioned, at pressures greater than 100 bar.

[0128] FIG. 21 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary system 1000 for controlling a system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distribution sources distributed over an area. Large-scale renewable hydrogen production plants may be very remote and distributed over a very wide geographic area. Due to the remoteness of the renewable energy generation and hydrogen or hydrogen compound production nodes, the system 1000 may enable full autonomy and remote control of the upstream renewable energy generation and midstream nodes. All equipment of the system 1000 may have intelligent electronic edge devices that collect data that may be used for control, measurement, and protection of the renewable energy generation and hydrogen production nodes. Data collected from the system 1000 may be input to a digital twin software model of the physical plant and may be used to test alternative operating regimes, other emerging technologies, and evaluate whether the entire system is operating at its optimum.

[0129] 21 shows four levels of control, where the process level 3000 is the physical process equipment and sensors thereon, where the physical equipment includes energy and / or hydrogen / hydrogen compound generating equipment or load equipment. The sensors can include smart edge devices such as inverters, merging units, transducers, Non Conventional Instrument Transformers (NCITs), Current transformers (CTs) and Current transformers (VTs) that can directly interface to the process equipment of the generating equipment or load equipment to collect digital and analog data for control of the equipment including wind turbines, solar power inverters, hydrogen compressors, electrolyzers, motors, metmasts, etc.

[0130] The next level of control is the field level 3100, which may comprise intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) / microprocessors, such as protection relays, metering & measurement devices, managed Ethernet switches, remote terminal units, programmable logic controllers, etc. These IEDs may have communication interfaces supporting high speed redundant Ethernet communication using standardized communication protocols with advanced programmable logic / algorithm capabilities. At the field level 3100, all data packets may be time-stamped and recorded in real time, i.e., within less than 1 millisecond. Time-critical autonomous actions to protect and measure the system may take place at the field level 3100.

[0131] The Station Level 3200 collects data from the field and process levels to make system-wide decisions such as operational interlocking, load shedding, control, Local Human Interface (HMI), software engineering / parameterization, power quality, user access authentication, certificate security management, etc. At the station level, local control can also be performed via local HMI at the wind turbine or substation or at the electrolyzer train.

[0132] The control center / SCADA level (3300) may be a remote off-site control center for overall supervision, control, and data acquisition of the system 1000. The control center(s) 3300 may be geographically located anywhere in the world. The system 1000 may be designed to operate autonomously, but all measurement data may be available for visual inspection and manual control of the system 1000. All measurement data at all sensor points in the system 1000 and the status of equipment, alarms, events, trends may be received by and stored in the data system 1003. An operator may also be able to control some or all of the system 1000, and from the SCADA 3300 may be able to isolate and interrogate devices or systems before deploying maintenance staff to the site. Components of the system 1000 may include closed circuit television (CCTV), both visual and thermal imaging, gas detectors, pressure measurements to provide additional data regarding the operation of the system 1000 from the control center 3300, whether the site is unmanned or staff are deployed to the site for maintenance reasons.

[0133] Sensor data acquired from the process level 3000, field level 3100, station level 3200, and control center / SCADA 3300 may be received by an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) cloud platform 1014 (i.e., data lake) and the data may be used by applications to optimize reporting on operational trends, efficiency trends, condition-based monitoring, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) trends over time, Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) trends over time, etc. Applications may be housed on mobile devices 1017 providing easy access to asset owners, investors, operators, certification authorities, etc.

[0134] FIG. 22 shows a schematic overview of an exemplary system 1000 for controlling a system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distribution sources distributed in an area. The system 1000 may include a controller 21 as described herein. The controller 21 includes a processor 1002 configured to implement processor-readable instructions that, when executed, configure the processor 1002 to perform the operations described herein. The processor 1002 may be a microprocessor or microcontroller, a digital signal processing (DSP) processor, an integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a reconfigurable processor, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), or a combination thereof. The controller 21 may include a communication interface 1004 for communicating with other computing devices or sensor devices, accessing or connecting to network resources, or running other computing applications by connecting to a network (or networks) capable of carrying data. In some examples, the communications interface 1004 may include one or more buses, interconnects, wires, circuits, and / or any other connection and / or control circuitry, or combinations thereof. The communications interface 1004 may provide an interface for communicating data between the system 1000 and the display 1015 or alarm 1016.

[0135] The controller 21 may also include connections for communicating with any pumps coupled to the water source 1 in accordance with the present disclosure to transmit setpoint(s) or receive data regarding flow rate, valve position, and pressure data / values.

[0136] The controller 21 may include sensor connection(s) for the energy produced by the wind turbine(s) 2 and the solar power cells / skids 8 .

[0137] The controller 21 may include connection(s) to pressure sensors, for example pressure sensors on the compressor 3 and / or pipeline 4. The controller may also communicate with the compressor 3 and / or pipeline 4 to transmit setpoint(s) or receive data regarding flow rates, valve positions, turbine speed, and pressure data / values.

[0138] The controller 21 may be coupled to a data system 1003 for storing system data and / or configured to communicate with a cloud service such as iCloud, Dropbox, Google Cloud, or any other digital data server). The data system 1003 may also include a universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) for enabling communication with other devices, e.g., a smartphone or computer, to transmit data for analysis and / or storage. The UART may include or be coupled to a wireless transceiver for wireless communication with such other devices, e.g., via infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc. The controller 21 may also be coupled to the water source, the data system 1003, the wind turbine 2, the compressor 3, the pipeline 4, the switchgear(s) 5, the electrolyzer 6, the load 7, and / or the solar power generating cells / skids 8 via a network 1500. The network 1500 may include any wired or wireless communication path, such as an electrical circuit. In some embodiments, network 1500 may include one or more buses, interconnects, wires, circuits, and / or any other connection and / or control circuitry, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, network 1500 may include a wired or wireless wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), combinations thereof, etc. In some embodiments, network 1500 may include a Bluetooth® network, a Bluetooth® low energy network, a short-range communications network, etc.

[0139] The controller 21 may include a memory 1006. The memory 1006 may include one or a combination of computer memories such as static random-access memory (SRAM), random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electro-optical memory, magneto-optical memory, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), and electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), and the like.

[0140] The memory 1006 may store an application 1012 that includes processor-readable instructions for performing operations described herein. In some examples, the application 1012 may include operations for controlling a system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from multiple distribution sources dispersed in an area.

[0141] In one embodiment, the application 1012 may include operations for selectively placing each electrolyzer(s) 6 in electrical communication with a first plurality of renewable energy sources, such as turbines 2 and / or solar power cells / skids 8, within a current carrying capacity threshold of the switchgear 5 at medium or high voltage. In another embodiment, the application 1012 may include operations for communicating each electrolyzer 6 with a second plurality of renewable energy sources when the current carrier capacity threshold is below a desired threshold for each electrolyzer(s) 6 to optimize electrolyzer efficiency.

[0142] In one embodiment, the electrolyzer 6 comprises a first electrolyzer and a second electrolyzer coupled together by a switchgear having a threshold of about 3,150 A, representing the maximum rating of the switchgear or its components, such as the bus couplers or bus section circuit breakers of each of the bus bars, for example. The application 1012 may include operations for automatically opening the switchgear and disconnecting the first electrolyzer from the second electrolyzer.

[0143] In one embodiment, the application 1012 may include operations to increase pressure in the pipeline 4 when energy generated by a renewable energy source, e.g., a wind turbine 2 and / or a solar power generating cell / skid 8, is greater than energy consumed by the load 7. The renewable energy sources may include a concentrated solar power plant (CSP) string including multiple concentrated solar power plant generators, a wave and / or tidal generator string including multiple wave and / or tidal generators, and a geothermal power string including multiple geothermal generators.

[0144] In one embodiment, the application 1012 may include actions to reduce demand for hydrogen (H2), or hydrogen compounds, by the load 7 when pressure in the pipeline 4 reaches a minimum threshold. In one example, the minimum threshold is less than about 50 bar.

[0145] In one embodiment, the application 1012 may include operations to cause the compressor 3 to compress H2 or hydrogen compounds into the pipeline 4 at a rate that is lower than the rate at which the H2 or hydrogen compounds are consumed by the load 7.

[0146] In one embodiment, the application 1012 may include operations for converting more than 50% of the energy generated by the renewable energy source, e.g., the wind turbine 2 and the electrolyzer(s) 6, into H2, or hydrogen compounds, by at least one electrolyzer for transmission to a load.

[0147] The above description is illustrative only, and those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosed invention. The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the subject matter of the claims. The present disclosure is intended to encompass all suitable modifications of technology. Modifications that are within the scope of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of a review of the present disclosure, and such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims. Also, the scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments described in the examples, but should be accorded the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims

1. 1. A system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from a plurality of distributed sources dispersed over an area, comprising: A geographically distributed network comprising a plurality of nodes, each node comprising: Water sources and A renewable energy source, a wind turbine string of a plurality of wind turbines; a solar power string of a plurality of solar power skids; a nodal substation in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, At least one electrolyzer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, said electrolyzer converting water from said water source into hydrogen (H ２ at least one electrolyser configured to convert hydrogen to a hydrogen compound; H ２ or a compressor for compressing hydrogen compounds from the at least one electrolyzer to a pipeline fluidly connecting each node; The nodal substation is positioned at a distance from the renewable energy source, the distance being: Energy efficiency Ｈ２伝送 > Energy efficiency 高電圧送電 is selected to be Here, energy efficiency Ｈ２伝送 H ２ or hydrogen compounds, and the energy efficiency of transmitting energy from the renewable energy source to a load through the nodal substation; and Energy efficiency 高電圧送電 a nodal substation that transmits energy from the renewable energy source to the load via high voltage transmission; a geographically distributed network comprising: From the plurality of nodes ２ or a load in fluid communication with the pipeline for receiving a hydrogen compound; A system comprising:

2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the renewable energy source at each node defines a perimeter and the nodal substation is defined in the perimeter.

3. 3. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the renewable energy source at each node comprises a plurality of wind turbine strings and a plurality of solar power strings in electrical communication.

4. The area is at least 500 km ２ The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

5. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each node collects renewable resources at a distributed voltage level from the wind turbines and solar power strings, and the nodes are positioned within 50 km of the wind turbines and solar power strings.

6. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the renewable energy source is in electrical communication with the load, and the node comprises at least one step-up power transformer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source and the load, the at least one transformer configured to increase a voltage of electricity transmitted from the renewable energy source to the load.

7. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the nodes are positioned at least 50 km from the load.

8. The system of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the system is islanded.

9. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein each string is rated to carry a maximum current carrying capacity at the rated medium voltage (MV), high voltage (HV), alternating current (AC) of the switchgear in the string.

10. The proportion of each renewable energy source is configured to provide the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE), the LCOE being: {(Construction cost excluding interest * capital recovery factor + fixed O&M cost) / (8760 * capital equipment utilization rate)} + (fuel cost * heat rate) + variable O&M cost The system according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

11. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein each node is configured to generate maximum energy based on current carrying capacity limitations of its switchgear and transformers, and the generated energy may be harvested at medium and / or high voltage.

12. The system of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the renewable energy sources are positioned to maximize energy production for a geographical area of ​​each node.

13. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the solar power string is a solar power station comprising a maximum number of solar power skids limited by the current carrying capacity of the switchgear of the solar power string at medium and / or high voltage.

14. The system of any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein each solar power generation string is defined within a perimeter of the wind turbine string.

15. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the wind turbine string comprises a maximum number of wind turbines limited by the current carrying capacity of the switchgear of the wind turbine string at medium and / or high voltage.

16. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein each wind turbine is positioned to minimise tip vortex interference between adjacent wind turbines.

17. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein each wind turbine is positioned from adjacent wind turbines so as to minimise wake interference.

18. The system of any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the pipeline is a high pressure hydrogen pipeline.

19. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the load is arranged to use the hydrogen, preferably the load is at least one of an ammonia, methanol or methane processing plant.

20. 20. The system of any one of claims 1 to 19, comprising a controller configured to selectively place each electrolyser in electrical communication with the renewable energy source within a current carrying capacity threshold of a medium or high voltage switchgear.

21. 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one electrolytic cell comprises a first electrolytic cell and a second electrolytic cell electrically coupled together at a switchgear having a threshold representative of a rating of the switchgear, and the controller is configured to electrically disconnect the first electrolytic cell from the second electrolytic cell when the threshold is exceeded.

22. 20. The system of any one of claims 1 to 19, comprising a controller configured to increase pressure in the pipeline when energy produced by the renewable energy source is greater than energy consumed by the load.

23. The controller controls the load to reduce the H when the pressure in the pipeline reaches a minimum threshold. ２ or a demand for hydrogen compounds.

24. 24. The system of claim 23, wherein the minimum threshold is less than about 50 bar.

25. The controller controls the compressor to calculate the H consumed by the load. ２ or at a rate lower than that of hydrogen compounds. ２ or compressing hydrogen compounds in the pipeline.

26. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 25, comprising a Concentrated Solar Power Plant (CSP) string comprising a plurality of centralized solar power plant generators.

27. 27. A system as claimed in any preceding claim comprising a wave and / or tidal generator string comprising a plurality of wave and / or tidal generators.

28. 28. The system of any one of claims 1 to 27, comprising a geothermal power string including a plurality of geothermal generators.

29. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the string size is limited by the current carrying capacity of the switchgear at medium or high voltage.

30. 30. The system of any one of claims 1 to 29, wherein each node is in electrical communication with extra high voltage (EHV) or high voltage transmission lines, power cables, power transformers, and switchgear rated for their maximum current carrying capacity to transmit electricity to the loads.

31. The controller converts more than 50% of the energy generated by the renewable energy source into H by the at least one electrolyzer for delivery to the load. ２ or hydrogen compounds.

32. The system of any one of claims 1 to 31, wherein the gigawatt-scale energy is at least 6 GW.

33. 1. A system for collecting, generating, and transmitting gigawatt-scale energy from a plurality of distributed sources dispersed over an area, comprising: A geographically distributed network comprising a plurality of nodes, each node comprising: Water sources and Renewable energy sources; a nodal substation in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, At least one electrolyzer in electrical communication with the renewable energy source, said electrolyzer converting water from said water source into hydrogen (H ２ at least one electrolyser configured to convert hydrogen to a hydrogen compound; H ２ or a compressor for compressing hydrogen compounds from the at least one electrolyzer to a pipeline fluidly connecting each node; The nodal substation is positioned at a distance from the renewable energy source, the distance being: Energy efficiency Ｈ２伝送 > Energy efficiency 高電圧送電 is selected to be Here, energy efficiency Ｈ２伝送 H ２ or the energy efficiency of transmitting energy from the renewable energy source to a load via the nodal substation as a hydrogen compound; Here, energy efficiency 高電圧送電 a nodal substation that transmits energy from the renewable energy source to the load via high voltage transmission; a geographically distributed network comprising: From the plurality of nodes ２ or a load in fluid communication with the pipeline for receiving a hydrogen compound; A system comprising:

Images